College Inside Track'sFamily Checkup

See how your family's doing with the college process. Make it better. Help your child thrive.

Measure your progress with the Family Checkup

Complete this 20-question survey to see how well you are doing as a family in 3 key components: Fit, Process and Financial.

At the end of the survey you’ll get a score and valuable recommendations to help you improve what you are doing.

Step 1 of 3

33%

Name*

FirstLast

Email*

Student's HS Graduation Year*

Select which statement best reflects where your family is at currently.

Classes*

We have not identified our child’s high level areas of interest

Rough understanding of interests , but haven’t considered class alignment

High level interests identified, but didn’t think about aligning classes

High level interests identified, class schedule somewhat aligned

High level interests identified and class schedule fully aligned

Career Exploration*

My child has not taken any steps to explore potential careers

Preliminary research on careers conducted through school

My child has a well researched list of potential careers but has not tried any on in the field

Identified a number of potential careers and has arranged informational interviews, job shadows and/or actual employment for at least one

My child has identified a number of potential careers and has arranged informational interviews, job shadows and/or actual employment for more than one

Campus visits*

We have not visited any colleges

We’ve visited a couple colleges, but none on our target list

We’ve visited a few colleges on our target list, but only through their formal tour

We’ve visited nearly all of the colleges on our target list, and have had a few experiences outside the formal tour

We’ve visited all or most of the colleges on our list and have had meaningful experiences with each outside of the formal tour

Admissibility*

Do not know our child’s GPA or standardized test scores

Know our GPA and test scores, but have no idea if our child will get into any of the colleges on our list

We considered admissibility for at least a few schools, but have no idea what those schools are likely to cost

Understand how to project our chances of admissibility but are unclear how to use that info to estimate cost

We understand how to reasonably project our child’s chances of admissibility and what we are likely to pay before applying at all of the colleges on our target list

Finding the right fit*

Do not know our child’s GPA or standardized test scores

Know our GPA and test scores, but have no idea if our child will get into any of the colleges on our list

We considered admissibility for at least a few schools, but have no idea what those schools are likely to cost

Understand how to project our chances of admissibility but are unclear how to use that info to estimate cost

We understand how to reasonably project our child’s chances of admissibility and what we are likely to pay before applying at all of the colleges on our target list

Target college list*

Neither we nor our child have thought about what criteria are important to us in a college

We’ve thought about what college criteria are important, but our son/daughter hasn’t

We’ve started a target list but haven’t tied it to a shared priority list

Both we and our child have prioritized what college criteria are important, but we haven’t built a target list

We’ve worked together with our child to prioritize what criteria are important to all of us in a college and have started building a target list of schools

Extracurriculars*

Our child isn’t involved in any extracurricular activities

Tried a few extracurriculars but dropped them

Our child is in as many extracurriculars as possible

Our child is focusing on a couple extracurriculars but isn’t passionate about any

Our child is deeply involved in a manageable number of extracurriculars he/she is passionate about

College selectivity*

We don’t understand the different types of colleges or how they admit students

Know certain colleges are harder to get into, but don’t understand why or how

We understand at least 1 of the influential factors in gaining admission to selective colleges but aren’t working on them with our child

Understand at least 1 influential factor in gaining admission to selective colleges and have worked with our child on it

We understand the 3 influential factors in gaining admission to selective colleges and are actively working to position our child for success in all 3

Comparing colleges*

We haven’t started looking at colleges

Started looking at colleges, but aren’t keeping notes

Looking at colleges and keeping notes, but haven’t thought much about what is important to us

We’ve thought about what is important to us and are keeping notes, but don’t have a consistent system to compare them

We have developed a matrix to rate all the aspects of college that are important to us, and are using this to rate those we are most interested in side-by-side

Deadlines*

We haven’t started thinking about college

We’ve identified a few colleges we like, to but have no idea when deadlines are

Know when some of the deadlines are for the schools we are interested in

Aware of the deadlines for the schools we are applying to, but no system to organize

We have a complete and organized system to keep track of all application, essay and scholarship deadlines

The money talk*

We have no idea what we can afford for college

Have a rough idea of what we can afford, but need to budget it out

Discussed general financial parameters with our child, but nothing specific

Clear understanding of what we can afford but have not discussed with our child

We have a clear understanding of what we can afford for college and have discussed that with our child

Application essays*

We haven’t done anything with college application essays

Aware of the essay deadlines, but haven’t started

Have done some essay practice, but don’t know the 5 steps to a successful college essay

Implemented a couple of the 5 steps to a successful college essay

We understand the 5 steps to a successful college essay and have implemented them on a real or practice essay

Activities*

We haven’t kept track of any of our child’s activities or service

We’ve written a few things down

Recorded most activities and service but not following 3D exercise

Following 3D exercise with some interests

Our child has an up-to-date record of all activities and community service and follows the 3D exercise with each interest

Standardized tests*

Our child is not planning to take the ACT or SAT

We’re planning to take at least one of the standardized tests but haven’t looked into dates

Have a date in mind but haven’t scheduled anything

We’ve scheduled a date but haven’t considered the 3 key questions as part of the decision

We used the 3 key questions to determine the best time to take the standardized tests and have either taken or scheduled at least one

Types of aid*

Do not understand how financial aid works at all

Understand there is need-based aid and merit aid, but not clear what the differences are

Understand the difference between need-based and merit aid, but have no idea which we are likely to qualify for

We understand the difference between need-based aid and merit aid, which type(s) we are likely to qualify for, and are structuring our college list with that in mind

We used the 3 key questions to determine the best time to take the standardized tests and have either taken or scheduled at least one

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) *

Have no idea what Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is

Understand what EFC is, but have no idea what ours is

We have a rough understanding of our EFC, but don’t understand how to use it

Good estimate of our EFC and generally how to use it when considering colleges on our target list

We have a good estimate of our Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and the financial aid policy at each of the colleges on our target list

Financial aid forms*

Have no idea what the FAFSA and CSS/Profile forms are

Heard of the FAFSA, but not the CSS/Profile

Understand how to complete the FAFSA but not the CSS/Profile

Understand how to complete both forms but aren’t clear which are required by colleges on our target list

We understand the difference between the FAFSA and CSS/Profile forms, how to complete each and which are required by all the colleges on our target list

Financial aid appeal*

We have no clue how the financial aid process works

Understand colleges tell us how much they will cost, but that is about it

We understand how a financial aid award works but have never heard of an appeal

Understand how a financial aid works and that it can be appealed, but have no idea how to go about the process

We understand what a financial aid appeal is and how to go about the process

Comprehensive cost*

Have no clue how much the schools we are looking at cost

Somewhat understand the difference between sticker price and net price of a college

Understand the sticker price of schools we are looking at

Have a general idea of how much the schools we are looking at would cost us in the first year

We understand how to read a financial aid award from a college and calculate the actual cost for each of the 4 years, including how that may change in subsequent years due to aid changing and where other children may be

Paying for college*

No idea how we’ll pay for college

We are planning to pay for what we can’t afford through scholarships because of our child’s grades or talents

Plan to take out loans for whatever we cannot afford

We will target schools that are a fit academically, socially and financially to minimize the need of financial aid

We are focusing on identifying the best fit schools academically, socially and financially and if appropriate will use the appeals process once we receive the financial aid awards